


no time for goodbyes

by bi_habibi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Kyoshi Warrior Sokka, M/M, Post-Canon, i say its canon compliant no i will not take criticism, sokka said yeet absolutely not, sometimes sokka gets to be feral, suki said try me bitch, thank you very much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26692393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bi_habibi/pseuds/bi_habibi
Summary: “I’m not saying nothing,” the man hissed.Suki flicked one of her fans, the man yelped as the cut on his cheek appeared.“I,” Sokka growled, “will not ask again, where is he? Where is the Fire Lord?”
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 297





	no time for goodbyes

“Where is he?” Sokka snarled, pressing the sword’s blade against the man’s neck.

Suki stood next to him, holding her fans dangerously close to the man’s face. The man just let out a small chuckle, before spitting at Suki. Sokka’s grip tightened on the front of the man’s tunic, slamming him into the wall. 

“I’m not saying nothing,” the man hissed.

Suki flicked one of her fans, the man yelped as the cut on his cheek appeared.

“I,” Sokka growled, “will not ask again, where is he? _Where is the Fire Lord?_ ”

The man glared at him, Sokka could see the fear creeping into the man’s brown eyes. Still, he refused to answer. Suki slammed her foot onto his chest, applying pressure, the man gasped.

“I-I don’t know where he is, I’m just the messenger!” the man yelped.

“Who are you working for?” Suki asked, her voice cold.

Sokka glanced over at her, in the dim light of the alleyway, it would be easy to mistake the Kyoshi Warriors leader as a dark spirit, with her face paint and black clothes. Sokka probably looked similar to her, since he was wearing the same face paint and dark clothes. The man struggled under the weight of Suki’s foot and against the pressure of Sokka’s blade. They had seen the man earlier in the palace, he had dropped off a box addressed to Mai. Sokka had never heard Mai scream before, and certainly not like that. Sokka couldn’t shake the image of what laid in the box.

It had been the crown, its five prongs of flame glinting in the sun, with dried blood splattering on it.

Zuko had been on a trip to Hira’a, visiting his mother and Noren. There had been no distress messages sent back to the palace, nothing showing that Zuko had been in trouble. Zuko was supposed to return yesterday, he never did. They had contacted Ursa and Noren, who said Zuko had left already.

Zuko was _missing_. 

Sokka was going to find him.

The man had stopped struggling against Suki and Sokka, finally realizing he would not be escaping.

“Either tell us who you’re working for now, or we’ll drag you back to the palace and well...you can take a guess what happens next,” Suki hissed.

“I-I…” the man mumbled, “Somebody paid me to deliver the box, alright? I didn’t ask no questions. I just delivered it!”

Suki rolled her eyes, taking her foot off the man’s chest. Sokka lowered his blade, there was a small line on the man’s neck, blood already trickling out. He turned and looked at Suki, who just shook her head. The man didn’t know anything. 

“We’re wasting time, let’s keep going,” Suki said.

Sokka grimaced as he sheathed his sword, they walked away, leaving the man to scramble off. Suki and Sokka moved silently through Caldera, they had no plan and no leads. How could somebody just whisk the Fire Lord away and _no one_ know where he is?

“We could head towards Hira’a, see if there’s any sign of where Zuko’s been taken there,” Suki suggested.

Sokka shook his head, “That’ll take too long. Something tells me Zuko is closer to the palace than we think.”

Suki raised an eyebrow at him, Sokka shrugged.

“It’s instinct.”

Suki just frowned in reply. They kept walking through the alleyways of Caldera, it was quiet, extremely quiet. That was unusual. Suddenly, Suki grabs Sokka’s shirt and pins him against the wall, shoving herself next to him, Sokka stares at her bewildered, but she pressed her finger to her lips, gesturing him to be quiet. Sokka could see two men walking in his peripheral vision.

“They’re gonna look for him,” one man said.

“No one will look for him at the prison. We just have to hold him until we can transfer him, now shut up, before someone hears us.”

Suki and Sokka make eye contact, Zuko was being held at the Capital City Prison. The men had walked off, not seeing them. Suki turned to Sokka, looking expectantly. 

“We’ve done a prison break before, let’s do another one,” Sokka said, grinning.

Getting into the Capital City Prison was fairly easy. Sokka and Suki had learned the guard patterns when Ozai was first placed there in order to make sure he couldn’t get out, or have anyone break him out. Finding Zuko within the prison, however, was a different story. There were guards on every floor and they didn’t know which ones were with them or against them. Sokka winced as a guard crumpled at his feet after being chi-blocked by Suki. They were already on the third floor, with no sign of Zuko. Luckily, this was the only guard they’ve had to take out, so being caught seemed unlikely. Suki peered around the corner, motioning it was all clear. Sokka crept down the dark hallway first, glancing into cells to see if any of them held Zuko, so far, nothing. Sokka prayed silently that they weren’t too late. 

By the time they had reached the sixth floor, with two more guards unconscious in a storage room, Sokka felt like throwing up, none of these cells contained Zuko, and there were only three floors left before the top floor, where Ozai was being held, and there were no other prisoners on that floor. Sokka glanced into the last cell on the floor and froze.

Zuko was slumped against the wall, his hair shaggy and in his face, eyes closed. Sokka could see him breathing and let out a small sigh of relief. He gestured to Suki, who pulled out a ring of keys she had snatched off the first guard. She inserted the first key, Zuko’s eyes flew open and he turned to look at them, relief on his face when he realized who it was. It took til the fourth key for the cell to open, which creaked quite loudly in the quiet hallway. Sokka stepped inside and threw his arms around Zuko, Zuko let out a small groan. 

“Thank Agni, you’re alright,” Sokka whispered.

Zuko let out a small chuckle. Suki was occupied trying to find the right key to unlock the cuffs around Zuko’s wrists.

“Some Ozai supporters got the jump on me, when I was leaving Hira’a,” Zuko explained, “Knock me out with something, woke up here.”

Sokka pulled away from him, Zuko had a nasty bruise on his good eye, as well as a cut on his forehead, blood dry and caked around it. There was a click as the cuffs opened, Zuko shoved them off and stood up, wincing. Suki stepped back out of the cell, glancing around. 

“Let’s get you home,” Sokka said, taking Zuko’s hand in his.

Zuko offered him a smile.

Back at the palace, Zuko was being attended in the infirmary, while Suki was ordering guards to find those responsible. Sokka had refused to leave the room while the nurse checked Zuko over, he had sustained some bruising, but nothing terrible. Mai was standing guard to his room, knives out. 

“Sorry for making you all worry,” Zuko mumbled, eyes closed.

Sokka scoffed, “Dude, you were _kidnapped_. Of course we were gonna flip shit, you’re our friend, no one messes with my friends.”

Zuko chuckled, then winced, the bruises were all over his torso. Sokka sat down on the edge of his bed, running his hands through Zuko’s hair.

“I didn’t say goodbye,” Zuko muttered.

“What?” Sokka said, confused.

“When I left for Hira’a, I didn’t tell you goodbye.”

“It’s okay, you’re here now.”

“What if I hadn’t come back? I didn’t tell you goodbye, if I hadn’t come back-” Zuko said, his voice cracking.

“Zuko, stop, you’re here, you’re _safe_ ,” Sokka said.

Sokka leaned down, pressing a kiss onto Zuko’s forehead.

“There’s no reason to say goodbye, I’ll always be here, and so will you,” Sokka whispered.

Zuko gave him a weak smile. Sokka ran his thumb along Zuko’s jaw, cupping his face.

“There’s no time for goodbyes, not when we’re together,” Sokka murmured.

He pressed a soft kiss against Zuko’s lips.

“I love you,” Zuko mumbled.

Sokka smiled, “I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can follow me on tumblr @kahtara!


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